The Secrets of Picking a College (and Getting In!)

Lynn F. Jacobs, Jeremy S. Hyman, Jeffrey Durso-Finley, Jonah T. Hyman

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781118974650
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Counseling

Two award-winning professors, a former admissions officer at a major university (now a counselor at a prestigious high school), and a gifted high school senior (now in the throes of the college admissions process himself) team up to offer you over 600 tips, techniques, and strategies to help you get in to the college of your choice. Comprehensive, yet easy-to-read, this book will teach you:

• How to size up the colleges you're considering—and come up with a coherent list.
• What are college nights, college fairs, and college rep visits—and how you can use each to your advantage.
• What are "holistic", "contextualized", and "legacy" admissions—and how each can work for you.
• How some schools count "demonstrated interest"—and how you can take advantage of this little-known fact.
• What are Early Decision, Early Action, and Single-Choice Early Action—and whether any is right for you.
• How to figure out the true costs of college, and what is the difference between "need-" and "merit-based" aid.
• What it means when colleges say they meet "100% of demonstrated financial aid" and what "loan-free" means.
• When and how to make campus visits—and what to do on each.
• How to prepare for each section of the ACT or SAT—and how to increase your scores.
• What admissions officers are looking for in your application—and how to give it to them.
• How to write the all-important Common App essay—and present your extra-curricular activities.
• How to prepare for an alumni interview—and present yourself in the best light.
• Whom to ask for letters-of-recommendation—and how to help them write the best possible letter.
• How to compare your final offers—and, in some cases, substantially improve them.
• When it's good to wait out the "wait list"—and when not.
• -and much, much more.

When you understand the college admissions process, you can maximize your chance of success. Why not put yourself ahead of the pack?

Chapter 1
Starting Your Search

Starting any big project is always intimidating. And starting the college search is particularly so, since there's so much pressure associated with the process that everyone going through it—even those with the calmest possible temperaments—is going to have periods of feeling totally stressed out. The worries are many: How do I know where to apply? Will I have good enough scores on the SAT or ACT? Are my high school grades or class rank up to snuff? Do I actually have to be interviewed? What should I write on the personal essay? Will I get in where I want to go? Will I be able to afford where I want to go? Could I be making a decision that will ruin my career possibilities after college—or even ruin my life? Do I even know what career I want to have? And how does anyone actually manage to survive applying to college, anyway?

We know that, for many, this can be a tough process. But it doesn't have to be as hard as a lot of people make it. It's a lot easier if you take it step by step. And, more important, it is a lot easier if you have clear, straightforward, and simple advice about what to do at each stage of the process—not to mention if you know some of the insider secrets. That's what we're here to give you. To get you started off on the right foot—and to help you get acquainted both with the colleges and with yourself—we start off with some basics and explain:

• The 10 questions you should ask yourself as you begin your college search
• Learning the landscape: the 6 major kinds of colleges
• The 8 things that make better schools better

10 Questions to Ask Yourself as You Begin Your College Search

Most people start their college search by looking outward: they look at websites, talk to parents, teachers, counselors—maybe even read books! But really the best way to start is by looking inward. That's because with so many colleges, which differ in so many ways, it's really important to get in touch with your priorities and values before you start on the path to applying to—and picking—a college. Going to college is a huge life change and you want the college you choose to be in line with who you are and what you want out of college. So take the time to read over, and think carefully about, these questions:

1. What reasons do you have for wanting to go to college? Although this might seem like such a no-brainer that there's no point in answering it, take some time to generate and write down all the reasons you might have for wanting to go to college. Do you want to get a world-class education? Do you want to prepare for some lucrative career? Are you looking to expand your social life and, in the best case, meet that special someone? Are you hoping to break free of your parents and develop a greater sense of independence? Do you just have no other idea of what to do with the next four or five years of your life? Whatever your reason or reasons, having a list and referring to it from time to time can help you determine more clearly what you want to get out of college and help you judge if particular colleges will really provide you with what you are looking for.

2. Do you have a single passion, or lots of broad interests? Some high school students have a particular area of study or an activity that they know is their true love and that they are absolutely certain that they want to pursue for the years to come. Been interested in climate change since you were 10? Always wanted to study bats? Been intrigued by international relations for as long as you can remember? Then you might want to think about colleges that are specifically devoted to that pursuit or have special programs in the area. However, if you like lots of subjects or just learning for the sake of learning, then a more general college, with strengths in lots of fields, might be just what you're looking for.

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Reality Check

Be careful not to confuse a passion with a passing interest: there are many tales of a “passion” that faded after the first semester of college. And don't feel bad if you don't yet have a passion—most people in high school (and even beyond) don't.

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3. Have you had any experiences at a college (perhaps in summer programs or concurrent enrollment programs), and what did you learn from them about what you like or don't like in a college? Some high school students have already had some experiences in a college setting, which can provide you with a leg up in sorting out what you might want to look for when choosing a college. If you're one of these students, ask yourself whether you liked the kinds of classes you took; whether you liked the living arrangements at that sort of college; whether you liked the kinds of students they had at that college; whether you liked being away from home; and so on. How you felt about a proto-college experience can provide you with important clues about what you might like in a real college experience.

4. Which courses in high school did you like and not like—and, most important, why? Reflecting on your educational experiences in high school can help you figure out what kind of educational experiences you want to have in college and what kinds you want to avoid. Did you like classes that were smaller and had lots of discussion or did you think larger classes where the teacher mainly lectured were more to your liking? Did you like classes that emphasized creative thinking or ones in which memorization was the main mode of study? Did you prefer classes that emphasized group work or ones with more individual work? Thinking about what learning experiences worked best for you can provide models for what kind of instruction you'll value in a college.

5. Do you enjoy classes that challenge you intellectually, or do you prefer easier classes? Do you like to have classmates that are as smart (or smarter) than you, or do you prefer to be at the top of the class? Naturally, no one wants to attend a school where everything is over their head or everyone is smarter than he or she is, but that shouldn't be a major worry because the college-selection process usually prevents these outcomes. However, you do have some choice about whether you want to be at a place where the students are academically gifted or study really hard—and the professors gear their courses toward smart, hard-working students—or a place where students are less academically inclined and the professors lower their expectations (and their course content and assignments) accordingly. Knowing your level of comfort—or discomfort—in challenging (and, in some cases, competitive) settings can be a help in knowing what sort of college to aim for.

6. Do you prefer to have more freedom in selecting your courses, or do you like having a predetermined curriculum? While high schools tend to have fairly strict requirements and relatively few electives, colleges vary between ones with large numbers of required courses and ones with extremely few courses you have to take (some even have an “open curriculum” in which there are no requirements). Do you like the idea of having control over much of your college program or would you rather the college structure your courses for you? Would you like fixed, set-out majors or would you like the possibility of designing your own? Knowing how you like to structure your education can help you evaluate whether the requirements at the various colleges you might be considering are right for you.

7. Do you like being in a place with lots of extracurricular activities going on—and, if so, what kinds of activities might you like to engage in? If you are a person who is always going out on the town, you're not going to be happy in a town where everyone clears out on the weekends and there's nothing to do. But that same town might be just fine for the person who just wants to hang out in the library all week long. Everyone has different kinds of interests, so consider how high a priority it is for you to attend a school with lots of social life and parties, many sporting events to watch, sports opportunities for you to participate in, a lively arts scene, an emphasis on community service or political action, a religious community that suits you, or other activities that interest you. Of course, interests can often develop or change, so consider not only what you like doing now but also what you think you might want to explore a little down the road.

8. Are you looking for a place where the student body is diverse, or would you like most of the students to be pretty much like you? Consider the level of diversity (social, political, gender, ethnic, religious) at your current school and how you experience it: Are you in a high school with mostly the same kinds of students, and would you welcome the opportunity to interact at college with different kinds of students? Or are you in a high school with great diversity and are just fine with that. Or do your high school experiences make you realize that you'd rather be with students more like yourself? Whatever your answer is, you should take it into account when thinking about colleges: with over 4,000 choices you should be able to find one with a student body you feel comfort...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Advance Praise for The Secrets of Picking a College (and Getting In!)
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Meet the Authors
• Table of Contents
• To You—The Future College Student
• Top 10 Reasons to Read This Book
• The Professors' Guide™ Icons
• Chapter 1: Starting Your Search
• Chapter 2: Building the List
• Chapter 3: Going on Tour
• Chapter 4: Taking the Tests
• Chapter 5: Constructing the Applications
• Chapter 6: Making the Choice
• Appendix How Admissions Decisions Are Made
• Web Resources
• Index
• End User License Agreement